- Details
- By Chez Oxendine
- Gaming
Tribal gaming faces both challenges and opportunities as 2024 comes to a close, with two major developments highlighting the complex relationship between tribes and states.
In Arkansas, Cherokee Nation pursues legal action after voters approved a referendum stripping its Pope County casino license, while in New York, newly elected Seneca Nation President J.C. Seneca aims to eliminate the tribe's 25% revenue sharing agreement with the state. Meanwhile, several tribes announced new developments and partnerships, including Muscogee Nation's groundbreaking on a $100 million casino project in Oklahoma.
Tribe fights voters' decision to strip Pope County license through lawsuit
An embattled plan to launch Cherokee Nation Entertainment’s Legends Resort and Casino in Pope County, Ark. has hit another barrier: a state referendum overturning the casino’s awarded license. The ballot question, referred to as Issue 2, proposed to reduce the number of casino licenses created by a 2018 amendment from four to three, revoking the Pope County license outright.
On Nov. 5, the proposal passed statewide, taking nearly 56 percent of 1.1 million votes, per a report by the Arkansas Democrat and Gazette. (Notably, Pope County itself rejected the measure, voting 56 percent against Issue 2.) On Nov. 8, Cherokee Nation Businesses, Cherokee Nation Entertainment, and Pope County resident Jennifer McGill collectively filed a lawsuit against the measure. The lawsuit claims the issue’s wording on the ballot was misleading, and that the county’s constitutional rights had been violated.
That lawsuit requested an injunction to prevent the Issue 2 ballot question from going into effect Nov. 14. A federal court later denied that injunction and removed the State of Arkansas and the Arkansas Racing Commission as defendants named in the lawsuit, citing sovereign immunity.
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and seven Arkansas Racing Commission members remain listed as defendants. The Arkansas Democrat and Gazette report notes Huckabee has called for a December trial, ahead of a proposed January and February hearing and a March bench trial.
The plans for Legends Resort and Casino include a 50,000 square-foot facility with 1,200 slot machines, a 200-room hotel, and a 15,000 square-foot multipurpose space, totaling a $300 million investment. In a statement published by iGaming.com, Cherokee Nation Entertainment attorney Bart Calhoun said the Nation would press on with the lawsuit and, eventually, the project itself.
“Cherokee Nation Entertainment is firmly committed to protecting its constitutional rights, defending its lawfully issued casino license, and safeguarding the substantial investments it made in good faith based on the establishment of the Pope County casino license under Amendment 100 in 2018,” Calhoun said in the statement.
Seneca Nation president floats ending state-tribe gaming revenue share
J.C. Seneca, the newly elected president of the Seneca Nation in New York, wants to revisit the tribe’s gaming compact with the state. Per an interview with local news station Spectrum News 1, Seneca believes the state shouldn’t be receiving its current 25 percent share of the gross slot win from Seneca Niagara Resort and Casino, Seneca Allegany Resort & Casino, and Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino.
Seneca asserts the state’s authorization of non-tribal casinos near Seneca Nation properties in 2013, as well as allowing video lotteries in racinos across the state, means New York isn’t honoring the compact.
“I’m a zero percent guy,” Seneca said in his Spectrum News interview. “I don’t think the state deserves any revenue from our nation. But as president, I have to look at what people want.”
Seneca told Spectrum he plans to field opinions from the tribe before resuming compact negotiations with the state.
DEVELOPMENT
The Muscogee Nation has broken ground on a $100 million hotel and casino property in Coweta, Oklahoma. The Coweta Casino Hotel is planned to feature a 35,000 square-foot casino with 750 gaming machines and a 46-room hotel. The property is projected to create 250 new jobs and open in Spring 2026, per a report by Indian Gaming.
“Investing in the City of Coweta represents a remarkable new chapter in our growing entertainment and hospitality legacy,” Muscogee Nation Principal Chief David Hill said in a statement provided to Indian Gaming. “We are proud to develop land throughout our historic reservation and this project adds to our significant economic development investments within the greater Tulsa region.”
NOTEWORTHY
Pechanga Resort Casino has announced a partnership with the Venetian Resort Las Vegas, per a press release from the former. Through the partnership, guests will have access to a unified awards program, offering visitors event invitations and special promotions at each location. The partnership is contracted for one year, with an option to renew, the press release states.
Wind Creek Hospitality, the entertainment arm of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, has purchased the Birmingham Racecourse for an undisclosed amount, per a report by Alabama news site AL.com. Wind Creek purchased the race track and its holdings from its prior owners, the family of Milton McGregor, who in turn bought the track in 1992. The sale is expected to be finalized in early 2025. The tribe plans to offer parimutuel games and historical horse racing games, per the AL.com report.
The Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation, a joint owner of the San Diego Football Club, has announced a partnership between the team and the tribe’s Sycuan Casino Resort. Under the partnership, the casino would be named San Diego FC’s Founding Chrome Club Partner and Official Tribal Gaming Partner. The partnership will allow for “exclusive elements” and opportunities for San Diego FC fans at the casino, per a report by the Times of San Diego.
A potential federal approval of the Coquille Indian Tribe's Medford casino project has sparked concerns from Oregon tribal leaders about the state's gaming landscape, according to Willamette Week. The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde and Cow Creek Band of Umpqua warn that approvals of off-reservation casinos could disrupt Oregon's long-standing one-tribe, one-casino policy, with Grand Ronde threatening to pursue a casino in Wood Village and Cow Creek considering expansion into Eugene and mobile gaming. The tribes' concerns follow the Biden administration's recent approval of an off-reservation casino in Minnesota, leading them to request an urgent meeting with Gov. Tina Kotek, who has previously stated her opposition to gaming expansion in the state.
If you have news or information about Indian gaming, expansions, developments,or emerging stories, shoot me a note at [email protected].
